Pitcairn Co. Makes New Investment in Western Digital Corporation $WDC

Pitcairn Co. acquired a new position in Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:WDC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,604 shares of the data storage provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,393,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Western Digital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,282,393 shares of the data storage provider’s stock valued at $5,196,484,000 after buying an additional 243,177 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Western Digital by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,305,289 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $593,045,000 after buying an additional 186,030 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Western Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $791,317,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 8.5% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 5,535,972 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $354,247,000 after acquiring an additional 431,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Western Digital by 11.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,804,907 shares of the data storage provider’s stock worth $456,737,000 after acquiring an additional 402,981 shares in the last quarter. 92.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Western Digital Stock Down 5.3%

Shares of NASDAQ WDC opened at $245.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.46. Western Digital Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.83 and a 1 year high of $309.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.86. The firm has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.76.

Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The data storage provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. Western Digital had a return on equity of 41.53% and a net margin of 35.52%.Western Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 25.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Western Digital Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Western Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Western Digital’s payout ratio is presently 5.02%.

Insider Activity at Western Digital

In other Western Digital news, insider Cynthia L. Tregillis sold 9,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.27, for a total transaction of $2,501,349.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 121,682 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,630.14. This represents a 7.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Matthew E. Massengill sold 36,926 shares of Western Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.43, for a total value of $9,616,638.18. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 84,277 shares of company stock worth $22,091,068. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Western Digital

Here are the key news stories impacting Western Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company completed the spin‑off of its flash business and repositioned as a pure‑play HDD supplier, reportedly selling a ~$3.1B stake and securing long‑term hyperscaler agreements that fully book HDD production through at least 2028 — this improves cash, reduces leverage and gives multi‑year revenue visibility. Western Digital Bets On Pure HDD Future With Hyperscaler AI Demand
• Positive Sentiment: Management and analysts highlight sold‑out nearline/HDD capacity for 2026 and guidance pointing to material revenue and margin expansion driven by AI (video, large‑model data), underpinning a structural re‑rating story. Western Digital: AI’s Unsung Storage Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: Options flow and institutional activity show heightened trading interest — large option bets and increased analyst coverage keep liquidity high but also increase short‑term volatility. Western Digital’s Options: A Look at What the Big Money is Thinking
• Neutral Sentiment: Consumer retail promotions and pricing anomalies (e.g., SSD deals) create short‑term retail noise but have limited impact on the enterprise HDD thesis that’s driving the stock. This 2TB WD SN850X is cheaper from Walmart than the equivalent 1TB model in a strange deal
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed (senior execs sold shares on March 4), which can sap near‑term sentiment even if sales are for diversification; investors often view clustered executive selling as a caution flag. Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) Insider Sells $2,501,349.48 in Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn of valuation and cyclical peak risk — some argue recent gains price in peak AI storage demand and a pullback or normalization in hyperscaler buying could trigger downside. Market anxiety after a very large prior run (and a recent sharp sell‑off episode) contributes to heavier profit‑taking. Western Digital: Strong AI Tailwinds, But Valuation Signals Cyclical Peak Risk What Drove WDC Stock’s Historic 490% Jump

Analyst Ratings Changes

WDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Western Digital from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial set a $310.00 price objective on Western Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Western Digital to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Western Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Western Digital in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.58.

About Western Digital

Western Digital Corporation is a global data storage company that designs, manufactures and sells a broad range of storage devices and systems for personal, enterprise and cloud applications. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company develops hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), NAND flash components and finished storage products used in PCs, external storage, servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and embedded systems.

Its product portfolio spans consumer and commercial markets, including internal and external HDDs and SSDs, removable flash memory products and storage platforms for data center and enterprise environments.